54 Years Since Tereshkova's Historic Space Flight
Tereshkova's Anniversary
54 years ago today, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. The 26 year-old cosmonaut blasted skyward onboard Vostok 6 before orbitting the earth 48 times. She spent nearly three days in space, more than all of the U.S. astronauts who had flown before that date combined. Since Tereshkova made history on the morning of June 16, 1963, women from the U.S., Canada, China, Japan, France, Italy, South Korea and the UK have all traveled to space. In 2013, Tereshkova offered to go on a one-way trip to Mars if the opportunity arose.
